AF-S DX NIKKOR 18-300mm f/3.5-6.3G ED VR

I purchased this lens the other day to go with a D7500 body. I was amazed at the quality of the build of the lens, the smoothness of operation and the sharpness of the photos. It was very easy to use as well.

This lens has traveled with me all over the world and I find it to be my go-to lens for everything. It is light-weight and handles so many different situations. I have updated cameras several times (all Nikon), but this lens continues to be my favorite!

super sharp up close and equally sharp at distances. My only gripe is that the lens extends a little bit by itself if you have it at extreme degrees.

This review is for the AF-S DX NIKKOR 18-300mm f/3.5-6.3G ED VR.
The focusing on the first I bought was atrocious. Attendants at Pictureline determined that it was defective and gave me a new one which I now have. It is better, but it too, is substandard by my standards. I would expect a little loss of image quality with such a high zoom rate, but it is far worse than any other of my Nikon zoom lenses. In fact, I use a 28-300 FX on my D610 and it is fantastic, so I figured an 18-300 DX on my D3300 would be perfect for my hiking adventures, but I was wrong. I´m going to return it tomorrow and try an 18-200DX and if that too doesn´t work, I guess I´ll go back to my 18-55 and 55-200 lenses and risk getting dust on my sensor again from changing lenses often, not to mention the time consuming inconvenience of doing so.
I would not recommend this lens.

This is my ‘go to´ lense when out scouting or other unplanned events. Images are sharp. Controls are responsive, almost intuitively manageable in short term decision mode on framing and focusing. Has proven durable to some bumps and bangs. Very happy.

I picked up this lens yesterday and immediately took it out to a nature park to see what it would do on my D500. Since it´s supposed to be very versatile, I just searched for somewhat interesting subjects, set up the shot, and took it. I used no tripod because I wanted to see how well the VR would work. Here are a couple shots from my outing - both are cropped, with the bumblebee being a pretty severe crop. I was satisfied with the results, and felt the sharpness was actually better than expected. I´ll be using this one a lot and recommend it for general shooting.

I replaced my 18-300mm model 2196 with this lens for one reason...weight! Although the specs of the older lens were slightly better with more glass and a littler wider aperture, this one takes excellent pictures. Plus, it can be carried around all day. Before I purchased it and sold the other, I looked at Ken Rockwell´s review and he stated that it was just as good. So far, I would have to say that he is right. This lens is about as lightweight as the 18-200mm so I would definitely recommend going with this for your wide angle telephoto all-in-one carry lens. It takes excellent vibrant photos outdoors and indoors. Does fairly well for concerts and events. My favorite lens so far.

I needed a well rounded lens, and I wish I had the 5.6 over the 6.3 big time!

This lens is shaky and far too soft at high zoom. Faces almost become blurry and detail is like any given photo of Bigfoot. I would gladly trade this for the heavier 5.6 but sadly my return time back to the store expired before I could return it. It is now an expensive paper weight.

I bought this lens for an upcoming 19 day trip to India and Nepal. I have the larger f/3.5-5.6 version of this DX lens, but size and weight are a big factor when traveling for a long time on a rigorous journey. I tested the lens today and it didn´t disappoint. I walked around for five hours today with this lens and a Nikon D500 camera body around my neck and I experienced no fatigue. Below are six images I took with this lens today.